interloper

I always feel out of place at these events. I'm at a professionalization conference for underrepresented minority graduate students. I'm here for work, and I take this part of my job very seriously. But I always wonder if the people here take me seriously. I feel very conspicuous. I'm not the only white staff member here, but I'm the only one who looks young enough to be mistaken for a student. I feel like the students from other schools must think I'm pretending to be a minority, just to be invited to the conference. I realize this is ridiculous, and I'm sure, intellectually, that the students are thinking no such thing, but every time I catch someone looking at me, I'm plagued with doubt.